U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin thanks supporters after she won her campaign against Republican Leah Vukmir during her election night party at Monona Terrace in Madison.(Photo: Rick Wood, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

MADISON - U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin has asked the U.S. Air Force to investigate multiple claims of sexual assault and harassment within the Madison-based Wisconsin Air National Guard unit "dating back decades."

In a Nov. 13 letter to the Congressional Inquiry Division of the Air Force, Baldwin asks for a review of allegations ranging from "inappropriate comments to actual assault."

The Associated Press first reported the allegations and Baldwin's request for an investigation Tuesday.

Air Force Inspector General Jacqueline Albright in a Nov. 16 letter told Baldwin she referred the request to the Air Force Office of Special Investigations but did not say whether the matter would be investigated.

A spokesperson for the Air Force did not immediately respond to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel to answer whether the allegations are being investigated.

Whistleblower letter

Baldwin's office received a letter outlining the allegations from a master sergeant in the 115th Fighter Wing's Security Forces Squadron, an Air National Guard unit based at Truax Field in Madison.

According to the Associated Press, Master Sgt. Jay Ellis told Baldwin, Wisconsin's Democratic U.S. senator from Madison, that he knew of six incidents of sexual assault or harassment against female members of the unit that occurred between 2002 and 2016. Ellis said high-ranking officers have done little to address them.

Baldwin in a follow-up letter Nov. 27 to Air Force officials urged a full investigation.

"I am seeking confirmation that an investigation is conducted into these very serious and concerning allegations," Baldwin wrote. "If there is a culture of sexual harassment at Truax field it is imperative that steps be fully taken to expose improper action and take remedial action to ensure a safe and appropriate work environment."

A spokeswoman for Gov. Tony Evers said Tuesday that Evers "just learned about this today in the news."

The Associated Press reported Ellis said officials from Scott Air Force Base in Illinois contacted him on Nov. 16 asking for details, but Maj. Penny Ripperger, a spokeswoman for the 115th Fighter Wing, said Thursday that as far as she knew, investigators had not reached out to anyone on the division’s leadership team regarding Ellis’ allegations.

Ripperger told the Associated Press that such behavior isn’t tolerated and that allegations are taken seriously. She said airmen receive frequent training on sexual assault and harassment that includes how to report incidents confidentially.

The allegations

According to the AP:

An unnamed woman told the Associated Press she and a friend were sexually assaulted by superior officers in the security unit during a 2002 party at Silver Flag Alpha Range, a training base outside Las Vegas, as the unit was preparing to deploy to Iraq. She said she didn’t file a formal complaint because she feared retaliation but that she did report the assault to her fire team commander, Pat Konz.

Konz, who was then a technical sergeant but who has since retired from the Air National Guard, told the AP that he documented the woman’s claims in his personal notes, which the woman supplied the AP. Konz said he passed on the allegations to a senior master sergeant in the security unit, but it only resulted in the woman being harassed during the deployment.

Ellis also alleges that in 2008 at the Madison base, a technical sergeant made inappropriate remarks to female airmen and that he tried to kiss one and choked two others. Among those who said he made “crass” remarks to was the woman who told the AP she was assaulted at the Nevada base in 2002.

In his letter to Baldwin, Ellis also alleges that in 2016, a female officer was discussing her sex life with a male officer during a break in training. A more senior male officer chimed in from across the room so that everyone could hear, Ellis wrote, noting that it was “inappropriate” for him to have done so.

Ellis said he reported the incident through an anonymous survey regarding morale.

The AP tried to get comment from the men accused in the six incidents that Ellis cited in his letter. It was unable to find a phone number, address or email address for one of the men and the others either declined to discuss the allegations or didn’t reply to voicemails or emails.

Ellis said he decided to come forward now because he doesn’t fear retaliation with just two years to go until he retires.

“This culture has created, and continues to promote an incredibly hostile and toxic work environment,” Ellis wrote to Baldwin. “I am asking for someone, anyone, to further investigate what has been happening at the 115th SFS.”